Investigating institutional influence on graduate program admissions by modelling physics GRE cut-off scores

TL;DR

This study models the influence of undergraduate institutions on physics GRE cut-off scores in graduate admissions, revealing institutional effects comparable to gender and GPA, and recommends against using such cut-offs.

Contribution

It introduces a dual modelling approach to assess institutional influence on GRE cut-offs, highlighting significant effects and advocating for policy change.

Findings

Institutional effects are comparable to gender and GPA.

Including institutional data improves model accuracy.

Recommends discontinuing physics GRE cut-off scores.

Abstract

Despite limiting access to applicants from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, the practice of using hard or soft GRE cut-off scores in physics graduate program admissions is still a popular method for reducing the pool of applicants. The present study considers whether the undergraduate institutions of applicants have any influence on the admissions process by modelling a physics GRE cut-off score with application data from admissions offices of five universities. Two distinct approaches based on inferential and predictive modelling are conducted. While there is some disagreement regarding the relative importance between features, the two approaches largely agree that including institutional information significantly aids the analysis. Both models identify cases where the institutional effects are comparable to factors of known importance such as gender and undergraduate GPA. As the results are stable across many cut-off scores, we advocate against the practice of employing physics GRE cut-off scores in admissions.